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S  E  R  M  O 


DELIVERED  FEBRUARY  5,  1799  ; 

RECOMMENDED   BY   THE   CLERGY   OF  THE  CITY  OF 
NEW-YORK, 

TO    BE    OBSERVED    AS    A    DAY    OF 

THANKSGIVING,  HUMILIATION,  AND  PRAYER, 

ON  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  REMOVAL  OF  A 

MALIGNANT  AND  MORTAL  DISEASE, 

WHICH  HAD  PREVAILED  IN  THE  CITY 
SOME    TIME    BEFORE. 


1/ 

BY  SAMUEL  MILLER,  A.  M. 

ONI    OF    THE    MINISTERS    OF    THE    UNITED    PRESEYTERIAW 
CHURCHES    IN    THE    CITY    OF    NEW-YORK. 


FUBLISKED  BY  REQUEST, 


NEP-YQRKt 

PRINTED    BY    OIOROE    FORMAT*. 

1799. 


. 


A  SERMON,  efc, 


Psalm  ii.  11. 


Rejoice  with  trembling. 


X  O  seek  refuge  in  the  power  of 
God,  and  cry  to  him  for  mercy  in  an  hour  of  dis- 
tress, is  the  language  of  nature  as  well  as  of  grace. 
When  the  pressure  of  calamity  is  severely  felt,  we 
see  the  profane  as  well  as  the  pious  repairing  to 
the  throne  of  the  Eternal,  and  looking  up  for  that 
aid,  which  in  ordinary  times  they  neglect  and  des- 
pise. But,  though  the  unbelieving  and  impious 
are  ready  enough  to  cry  for  deliverance  from  suf- 
fering, they  are  apt  to  think  little  of  the  gratitude 
and  duty  which  they  owe  after  the  mercy  is  re- 
ceived. The  character  of  mankind  in  general,  too 
much  accords  with  that  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
which  is  delivered  by  the  Psalmist— When  he  slew 
them,  then  they  sought  him  ;  and  they  returned  and 
enquired  early  after  God :  then  they  remembered 
that  God  was  their  Rock,  ana \  the  Most  High  their 
Redeemer.     Nevertheless  thej/  did  flatter  him  with 


'4 

.      . 
their  mouth,  and  (hey  lied  unto  him  xviih  their  tongue. 

They  remembered  not  his  hand,  nor  the  day  xc-hen 

he  delivered  them. 

■ 

It  is  my  earnest  prayer,  my  brethren,  that  we 
may  not  ourselves  be  examples  of  this  ungrateful 
and  odious  temper.     But  a. few  weeks  have  elaps- 
ed since  we  saw  the  most  thoughtless  irresistibly 
constrained  to  pause  and  consider  -,  and  the  most 
daring  scoffer  impelled   to  put  up    a  petition  for 
mercy  to  the  Almighty  Sovereign  of  the  universe. 
The  aspect  of  divine  Providence  is  now  changed. 
The  voice  of  mirth  and  gladness  is  again  heard  in 
our   social  circles  j  and  the  activity  of  prosperous 
business  is   again   seeny  where  the   silence   and 
gloom  of  death  lately  prevailed.     But  do  we  come 
before  the  Most  High  this  day,  with  those  prompt 
and  fervent  emotions  which  we  felt  under  the  pres- 
sure of  his  afflicting  hand  ?  Have  we  entered  this 
house  as  solicitously  concerned  about  improving  his 
mercy  as  we  lately  were  to  obtain  it  ?  Is  our  joy 
that  of  the  humble  and  affectionate  heart,  which 
returns  to  Him  who  hath  dealt  bountifully  with  it  ; 
or  is  it  the  inconsiderate  confidence  of  those  who 
having  once  escaped,  think  no  more  of  the  power 
and  justice  which  corrected,  or  of  the  mercy  which 
spared  them  ? 

With  a  view,  if  possible,  to  stir  up  in  your  minds 
and  my   own,  a  temper   corresponding  to  the  so- 


•  lemn  occasion  on  which  we  are  convened,  I  have 
chosen  the  concise  but  comprehensive  words  which 
were  just  read.  They  are  taken  from  a  Psalm,  in 
which  the  inspired  writer  predicts  desolating  judg- 
ments and  awful  dispensations  as  about  to  take 
place  in  the  course  of  God's  dealings  with  the 
world.  As  an  inference  from  these  predictions, 
or  as  an  incitement  to. improve  them,  he  delivers 
the  words  of  our  text — Be  wise  no:u,  therefore,  O 
ye  kings,  be  instructed, ye  judges  of  the  earth.  Serve 

the  Lord  icith  fear,  and  rejoice  with  trembling. 

■ 

rft 

The   sentiment  contained    in   these   words   is 

obvious  and  important.  It  is  this — That  we  are 
bound,  at  all  times,  even  the  most  distressing,  to 
rejoice  in  the  government  of  God,  as  holy,  wise, 
and  good  ; — but,  at  the  same  time,  in  every  sea- 
son, however  prosperous  and  flattering,  to  mingle 
fear  and  trembling  with  our  joy,  as  dependent  anci 
sinful  beings,  who  are  continually  exposed  to  the 
wrath  of  heaven,  and  who  have  no  reason  to  be 
confident  in  ourselves,  or  to  presume  on  present 
enjoyment. 

In  applying  this  passage  of  scripture  to  the  so- 
lemnity in  which  we  are  engaged,  it  shall  be  my 
endeavor, 

I.  To  shew  the  obligation  which  we. are  under 
to  come  before  God,  .this,  day,  with  joy  and  praise. 


II.  To  explain  the  manner  in  which  our  joy 
should  be  exercised  and  qualified,  and  the  grounds 
of  this  qualification. 


I.  I  begin  with  shelving  the  obligation  which 
we  are  under  to  come  before  God,  this  day,  with 
joy  and  praise. 

That   gratitude  to  God  is  a  duty,  no  rational 
being,  who  believes  that  there  is  a  God,  has  ever 
denied.     If  there  be  a  sentiment  in  which  men  of 
all  characters,  and  of  all  modes  of  thinking  are 
unanimous,  it  is  this— that  we  ought  to  cherish 
emotions  of  thankfulness  towards  our  Almighty 
Benefactor,  and  rejoice  in  his  existence,  his  per- 
fections, and  his  will.     Some  vain  theory-builders 
have,  indeed,  contended  that  gratitude  between 
man  and  man  was  not  a  duty  •  supposing  it  to  be 
inconsistent  with  their  refined  and  extravagant  no- 
tions of  justice.     But  I  know  not  that  even  these, 
at  least  such  of  them  as  believe  in  the  existence  of 
a  Deity,  have  ever  called  in  question  the  duty  of 
gratitude  to  Him.     They  have  acknowledged  that 
here  thankfulness  sincere  and  ardent  is  incumbent 
upon  us,  and  that  to  withhold  it  is  robbing  God  of 
hisjust  due. 

T 

The  grounds  of  joy  and  praise  are  unnumbered 
and  ceaseless.  Every  object  we  behold,  and  ev^ry 
moment  we  liy€y  afford  abundant  matter  for  this 


exercise.  There  is.no  situation  in  which  we  can 
be  placed,  there  is  no  occurrence  which  we  can 
be  called  to  contemplate,  but  what  suggests  am- 
ple reason  for  thankfulness  and  rejoicing.  Hence 
one  inspired  writer  declares—/  will  bless  the  Lord 
at  all  times ,  his  praise  shall  continually  be  in  my 
mouth*  And  another  exhorts,  Rejoice  in  the 
Lord  ;  rejoice  always  ,•  and  again,  I  say,  rejoice.^ 

You  might,  with  propriety,  be  called  upon  this 
day,  to  rejoice  and  praise  God  for  his  beneficence 
in  creation ;  for  the  noble  facultiesand  powers 
with  which  we  are  endowed  ;  and  for  the  various 
beauties  and  comforts  of  the  world  in  which  our 
lot  is  cast.  You  might  be  called  upon  to  rejoice 
and  praise  him  for  the  common  bounties  of  his  Pro- 
vidence ;  for  food  and  raiment ;  for  numerous  en- 
joyments of  body  and  mind  ;  for  fruitful  seasons ; 
for  the  regular  return  of  summer  and  winter,  seed- 
time and  harvest ;  and  for  our  preservation  through 
another  year.  It  might  be  shewn  that  our  fervent 
gratitude  is  due  and  demanded  for  social,  family, 
and  national  blessings ;  for  civil  and  religious  li- 
berty ;  for  governments  of  our  own  choice,  and 
laws  of  our  own  formation  ;  for  the  peaceful  en- 
joyment of  the  fruits  of  our  labours  ;  and  for  the 
measure  of  tranquility  and  plenty  which  smile 
around  us.  It  might  be  demonstrated  that  we  are 
under  obligations  to  express  our  joy  and  praise  to 

•  Psalras  xxxiv,  l.  \  Philip,  iv.  4-. 


s 

God  even  for  his  judgments  ;  for  be  assured,  bre- 
thren, we  shall  never  exercise  a  proper  temper 
toward  him,  unless,  with  the  Apostle,  we  rejoice 
in  tribulation,  and  give  thanks  for  the  chastenings 
of  his  rod,  as  designed  to  work  together  for  the 
good  of  all  who  love  him — as  real  blessings  in 
disguise.  You  might,  with  propriety,  be  exhort- 
ed, above  all,  to  offer  the  sacrifices  of  thanksgiv- 
ing for  the  Gospel  Redemption  ;  for  the  gift  of  an 
almighty  and  all-sufficient  Saviour ;  for  enlarging 
our  views  beyond  these  regions  of  disorder  and 
darkness  ;  for  the  new  Covenant,  established  upon 
glorious  promises,  and  containing  all  our  salvation 
and  all  our  desire.  Especially  are  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  and  the  continuance  of  our  spiritual  privile- 
ges proper  subjects  of  social  thanksgiving  at  the  pre- 
sent day,  when  their  opposers  are  more  than  com- 
monly numerous  and  bold  ;  when  they  display  a 
zeal  unwearied  and  malignant  to  bring  the  doc- 
trines, the  duties,  and  the  teachers  of  this  holy  re- 
ligion into  contempt ;  and  when  they  publicly 
glory  in  the  expectation  of  its  speedy  downfal. 
How  much  reason  have  we,  christians  !  for  un- 
feigned gratitude,  that,  amidst  so  much  secret 
and  open  opposition,  the  cause  of  our  divine  Mas- 
ter lives  and  triumphs ;  that  his  sabbaths  continue 
to  be,  by  a  goodly  portion  of  our  citizens,  observ- 
ed and  honored  ;  that  his  ordinances  are  respect- 
fully attended  ;  that  his  messengers  arc  still  sent 
forth  to  proclaim  the  good  news  of  salvation  to 


9 

guilty  men  ;  and  that  every  day  furnishes  encreas- 
ing  ground  of  confidence  that  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  never  prevail  against  his  church,  but  that  He 
will  reign  until  He  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet  I 

" 
But  passing  over  these  various  topics  of  grateful 

acknowledgment,  not  because  they  are  unworthy 
of  more  particular  notice,  but  because  they-equal- 
ly  demand  at  all  times  the  most  affectionate  ascrip- 
tions of  praise — I  would  direct  your  attention  to 
that  special  ground  of  joy  and  humble  gratitude,- 
which  led  to  the  appointment  on  which  we  are 
now  convened — The  divine  goodness  in  de- 
livering US  FROM  THE  RAVAGES  OF  PESTI- 
LENCE, which  lately  cloathed  our  city  with  the 
mantle  of  mourning. 

There  are,  probably,  few  cases  in  which  we  feel 
ourselves  more  completely  helpless,  and  more  en- 
tirely in  the  hands  of  God,  than  when  He  sends 
forth  pestilence,  as  a  messenger  of  his  wrath  to 
chastise  a  guilty  society  ;  wrhen  the  atmosphere 
which  we  breathe  bears  in  its  component  materi- 
als the  seeds  of  dissolution  and  death  j  when  the 
weapons  of  destruction  float  around  us  unseen,  and 
the  fell  destroyer  presents  no  tangible  front,  to 
which  we  can  oppose  our  strength  and  our  feeble 
devices.  Then  it  is,  if  ever,  that  human  pride 
bows  its  head  : — then,  if  ever,  that  the  incorrigible 

B 


10 

infidel  thinks,  for  a  moment,  of  a  God,   of  Provi- 
dence, and  of  prayer. 

Have  you  forgotten,  my  brethren,  that  such 
was  lately  our  situation  ?  Have  you  forgotten  the 
calamity,  which,  a  few  weeks  ago,  ravaged  our 
city,  which  filled  your  hearts,  with  consternation, 
and  covered  your  faces  with  paleness  ?  Have  you 
forgotten  the  memorable  period,  when  the  king  of 
terrors  raised  his  bloody  standard  in  the  midst  of 
us,  and  waved  it  triumphant  through  all  our 
streets  ;  when  with  his  destroying  sword  he  hewed 
down  our  neighbours  and  friends,  sparing  neither 
sex,  condition,  nor  age  •>  when  with  merciless 
looks  and  contagious  breathy  he  walked,  amidst 
the  gloom  of  midnight  and  the  light  of  noon-day, 
laying  victim  after  victim  at  his  feet  ?  Have  you 
forgotten  the  period  when  this  grim  tyrant  defied 
all  the  forces  which  the  wisdom  and  power  of  mart 
could  bring  against  him  j  when  he  knocked  at  al- 
most every  door,  demanding,  with  imperious- 
voice,  sometimes  one,  and  sometimes  two  victims 
in  a  house,  pnd  sometimes  with  undistinguishing 
fury,  bearing  away  every  member  of  the  fond  do- 
mestic circle,  leaving  no  survivor  to  deplore  his 
melancholy  ravages,  or  to  tell  the  tale  of  woe  ? 
Have  you  forgotten  those  gloomy  days,  when 
scarcely  any  sound,  was  heard,  but  the  voice  of 
mourning  and  death  ;  when  few  passengers  were 
seen,  save  the  bearers  of  putrefying  mortality  to> 


11 


the  tomb  ;  when  the  labours  of  the  artizan  and  the 
speculations  of  the  merchant  were  suspended  ;  and 
when  the  means  of  splendid  adorning  were  ex- 
changed for  the  coffin,  the  shroud,  and  the  grave  ? 
Have  you  forgotten  the  anguish  which  you  felt, 
through  sympathy  for  the  afflictions  of  others,  and 
through  apprehension  for  your  own  safety  ?  Have 
you  forgotten  the  vows  which  you  made,  and  the 
resolutions  which  vou  formed  in  those  serious  and 
solemn  hours  ?  No,  you  cannot  have  forgotten 
scenes  and  feelings  such  as  these.  Had  your  own 
memories  been  unable  to  retain  them,  the  num- 
berless monuments  and  memorials  which  surround 
you,  would  recal  diem  continually  to  your  minds. 
The  badges  of  mourning  which  I  see  before  me, 
bring  to  my  remembrance,  a  husband  or  a  wife,  a 
parent  or  a  child,  a  brother  or  a  sister  recently 
torn  from  your  embraces,  and  consigned  to  the  in- 
satiable tomb.  O  Death !  how  large  the  catalogue 
of  thy  trophies  !  what  inroads  hast  thou  made  on 
the  arrangements  and  peace  of  families,  and  on 
the  endearments  of  social  life  ! 

Brethren,  I  have  not  drawn  this  picture  with  as 
view  to  harrow  up  your  feelings,  or  to  Wound 
those  tender  sensibilities  which  I  perceive  to  be 
excited  in  your  bosoms  : — but  from  a  wish  to  im- 
press you  with  a  deep  sense  of  your  obligation  to 
God  for  the  happy  change,  which  his  mercy  has 
produced  in  the  state  of  our  city.      Bereaved  and 


12 

afflicted  hearers !  weep  not  as  those  who  have  no 
hope  !  Believe  in  Him  who  is  the  Resurrection  and 
the  Life,  and  who  has  promised,  when  He  comes 
again,  to  bring  with  him  in  glory,  all  Who  have 
fallen  asleep  in  the  faith  bf  his  gospel. 

But  to  whom  are  we  indebted  for  the  removal 
of  that  calamity,  which  has  been  so  inadequately 
described  ?    Surely  not  to  human  ingenuity  or  hu- 
man strength.     How  often  did  we  see  the  prudent 
precaution    useless,  and    the   studied  care  of  the 
wise   put   to   shame  !    How  often  did  we  see  the 
most  plausible  plans  of  prevention  fail,  and  the 
most  promising  theories  of  medical  wisdom  demo- 
lished, or  set  at  nought  by  the   subtle  destroyer  ! 
Yes,  brethren,  in  the   preservation   of  each  of  us, 
there  is   the  finger  of  God.      Some  he  saved  by 
providing  a  place  of  refuge,  where  the   salubrious 
breeze,  and  the  hospitable  board  sustained  them 
till  the,  evil  was  past  -y  while  others  were  preserved 
though  walking  in  the  midst  of  the  devouring  poi- 
son, to  discharge   the  duties  of  benevolence  and 
humanity.      Nor  was  the  hand  of  God  less  visible 
in  arresting  the  progress  of  the  destructive  mala- 
dy, than   in   guarding  our  lives  amidst   its  raging 
power.      AVhen  the  survivors  were  helpless,  and 
apprehended  a   devastation  still  more  awful,   He 
appeared   to  stay  the  plague.     When  there  was 
no  earthly   power  to  whom  we    could    look   for 
safety,  and   when  the  experience  of  every  day 


13 

proved  that  human  aid  was  vain,  then  did  the 
great  Physician  interpose  with  his  healing  powtr. 
He  dispelled  the  malignant  vapours  which  enve- 
loped our  habitations.  He  ordered  the  season  in 
mercy  ;  and  in  due  time  restored  the  voice  of  joy, 
and  the  activity  of  business,  to  our  lately  deserted 
dwellings. 

I  shall  not  stay  here,  to  combat  the  objections 
of  those  who  may  contend — "  That  this  deliver- 
ance has  been  brought  about  by  mere  natural  cau- 
ses, without  God  ;  and  that  to  ascribe  it  to  divine 
agency,  or  a  particular  Providence  is  weak  and 
superstitious."  With  respect  to  those  who  adopt 
this  language,  I  would  only  ask  them — What  is 
nature  without  God  ?  What  do  you  call  by  this 
name,  but  the  ordinary  method  in  which  Jehovah 
actuates  and  guides  the  material  world  ?  Is  it  not 
by  the  breath  of  his  mouth  that  frost  is  given  ?  Is  it 
not  by  his  command  that  cold  cometh  out  of  the 
north  f  Doth  he  not  say  to  the  rain — Be  thou  on 
the  earth  ?  Doth  he  not  regulate  all  these,  that 
they  may  do  ivhatsoever  he  commandeth  them  on  the 
face  of the  earth,  either  for  correction,  or  for  mer- 
cy ?*  And  is  it  not  acknowledged  to  be  by  the 
secondary  influence  of  these  causes,  that  the  pro- 
gress of  pestilence  is  arrested,  and  its  virulence 
destroyed  ?  Philosophy  !  7  venerate  thv  name  3  In 

# 

*   Job  xxxvii.  G-U, 


the  simple  .garb  of  truth,  and  as  $ie  humble  inter- 
preter of  Jehovah's  works,  thou  art  the  handmaid 
of  religion,  and  the  friend  of  virtue.  But  when 
corrupted  and  deformed  with  the  gaudy  trappings 
of  human  folly  ;  when,  with  presumptuous  hands, 
thou  wouidst  invade  the  throne  of  God;  when  thou 
wouldst  hide  from  man  the  wisdom  and  power  by 
which  he  exists,  thou  becomest  the  enemy  of 
sound  reason,  and  the  foe  of  human  happiness  ! 

Give  unto  the  Lord,  therefore,  O  ye  people,  give 
irnto  the  Lord  glory  and  strength.  Give  unto  the 
Lord  the  glory  that  is  due  unto  his  name.*  lie 
hath  not  dealt  with  us  after  our  sins,  nor  rewarded 
us  according  to  our  iniquities.-\  He  hath  torn,  and 
he  hath  healed  ;  he  hath  smitten,  and  he  hath  bound 
us  up.\  Like  as  a  father  pilieth  his  children,  so 
hath  he  pitied  and  spared  us.  lie  remembered  our 
frame,  he  remembered  that  we  were  but  dust.  Bless 
the  Lord,  O  cur  Souls  ;  and  all  that  is  zcithin  us, 
bless  his  holy  name.  Bless  the  Lord,  O  our  souls, 
and  forget  not  all  his  benefits  ;  who  healeth  our  dis- 
eases  ;  zvho  redeemeth  our  lives  from  destruction  ; 
who  crowneth  us  with  loving-kindness  and  tender 
mercies.^ 

Having  made  these  remarks  on  the  grounds  of 
that  joy  and  praise  which  we  are  called  this  day  to 
render,  I  shall  attempt, 

*  Psa.  xxxix.  1,2.  t  Fsa-  c'l'i'1-  **•        ?  Hos   6-  ]  ■ 

§  Psa.  ciii.  1—  1*. 


15 

II.  To  explain  the  manner  in  which  our  joy 
should"  be  exercised  and  qualified,  and  the  reasons 
of  this  qualification.  Rejoice  with  trembling. 

There  are  few  things  to  which  human  nature  is 
more  prone  than  presumptuous  confidence  : — And 
there  are,  perhaps,  few  occasions  on  which  it  is 
more  apt  to  appear,  than  in  the  first  transports  of 
joy,  on  being  delivered  from  the  pressure  of  cala- 
mity, or  from  the  dread  of  impending  danger.  Of 
the  truth  of  this  remark  the  sacred  history,  abounds 
with  examples.  In  almost  every  instance  in  which, 
the  children  of  Israel  emerged  from  the  overwhelm- 
ing judgments,  which  their  sins  brought  upon 
them,  they  are  represented  immediately  after,  as 
becoming  more  proud  and  self-confident  than  ever  5 
more  forgetful  of  the  hand  of  their  Deliverer  ;  and 
more  bold  transgressors  of  his  righteous  law.  And 
in  like  manner,  has  it  been  found,  from  that  peri- 
od to  the  present  day,  that  the  prosperity  of  fools  de- 
stroys them.  Hence  the  propriety  and  importance 
of  the  exhortation  in  our  text — Serve  the  Lord,  with 
fear,  and  rejoice  with  trembling. 


By  the  trembling  inculcated  in  this  place,  we 
are  not  to  understand  that  servile  fear  and  pusilla- 
nimous dread,  which  rather  become  those  who 
have  no  hope,  and  are  zvifhoul  God  in  the  zvvrld. 
Neither  are  we  to  consider  it  as  diminishing  our 
sense  of  favors  received,  or  as  at  all  inconsistent 


16 

with  the  utmost  fervor  of  gratitude.  But  the"  ex-, 
pression  implies,  that  our  joy  should  be  mingled 
with  such  an  humble  sense  of  dependance  j  with 
such  an  awful  conviction  of  our  demerit  in  the 
sight  of  an  holy  God  ;  and  with  such  a  solemn  im- 
pression that  we  are  still  in  his  hands,  as  will  re- 
press arrogance  and  pride,  and  teach  us  to  main- 
tain the  spirit  of  filial  fear.  The  language  of  the 
exhortation,  in  short,  is  this — "  Children  of  the 
dust  y  let  not  your  joy  be  the  exulting  levity,  or 
the  inconsiderate  confidence  of  those  who,  in  pros- 
perity, imagine  their  mountain  will  forever  stand 
strong.  But  let  all  your  thanksgiving  be  mingled 
with  humility,  and  all  your  joy  tempered  with  the 
recollection,  that  sinful  beings  are  continually  ex- 
posed to  wrath  and  chastisement,  and  have  no 
ground  of  security  in  themselves." 

■  Among  many  considerations  which  might  be 
urged  to  qualify  our  joy  this  day,  and  mingle  with 
it  an  holy  trembling,  permit  me  to  select  and  lay 
before  you  the  following. 

1.  We  have  reason  to  tremble, lest  the  judicial  dis- 
pensation of  Providence,  for  the  removal  of  which 
.we  this  day  rejoice,  should  not  be  sanctified. 
The  judgments  of  God  are  frequently  represented 
in  scripture,  under  the  strong  and  striking  figure 
of  a  furnace,  designed  to  try  and  purify  that  which 
\<  subjected  to  its  power.      They  are  intended, 


17 

like  the  refiner's  process,  to  separate  from  us  our 
moral  corruption  ;  to  purge  from  our  hearts  and 
our  manners  whatever  is  base  and  pernicious. 
Now  we  are  uniformly  assured,  by  the  same  Di- 
vine Authority  which  gives  us  this  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, that  if  they  fail  of  producing  this  spiritual  pu- 
rification in  our  tempers  and  lives,  we  shall  come 
out  of  them  more  obdurate,  and  at  a  greater  dis« 
tance  from  the  hope  of  reformation  than  before. — 
When  a  remedy  is  applied  to  the  natural  constitu- 
tion of  man,  if  a  frequent  repetition  of  it  be  de- 
manded by  the  obstinacy  of  the  disease,  the  physi- 
cian finds  its  efficacy  to  become  daily  less  and  less ; 
he  observes  the  system  to  become  more  insensible 
of  its  influence,  in  proportion  to  the  frequency  and 
length  of  the  application  ;  until  at  length  the  larg- 
est portion  he  can  exhibit  will  produce  but  little 
effect.  Thus  it  is  with  the  human  heart,  with 
respect  to  the  judicial  dispensations  of  Providence. 
They  are  moral  remedies,  for  moral  diseases. 
They  arc  intended  to  operate  a  deep  and  effectual 
conviction  of  the  holiness  of  God,  and  of  his  dis- 
pleasure against  sin  ;  to  cloathe  us  with  humility, 
and  lead  us  to  repentance — This  is  the  sanctified 
use  of  them  which  it  is  our  duty  to  make.  But 
where  they  fail  of  producing  these  effects,  they 
leave  the  heart  more  insensible,  the  conscience 
more  seared,  the  ears  more  deaf  to  the  voice  of 
heaven,  the   eyes  more  blind  to  truth  and  duty, 

Q 


'    ,8 

and  the  whole  man  lying  under  an  additional,  load 
of  guilt,  and  at  a  farther  remove  from  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

To  all  those  who  enter  into  these  views  of  the 
subject,  it  will  appear  neither  a  novel  nor  an  un- 
justifiable assertion  to  pronounce — That,  if  the 
affliction  from  which  we  have  been  recently  deli- 
vered, be  not  sanctified,  the  very  deliverance  in 
which  we  now  rejoice,  will  but  increase  our  guilt 
and  our  danger.  If  the  dispensation  do  not  pro- 
duce the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness,  it  will 
leave  us  a  more  hardened  and  stiff-necked  people 
— at  a  greater  remove  from  penitence — and  ripe 
for  higher  tokens  of  the  divine  displeasure.  My 
spirit,  says  God,  shall  not  alzcays  strive  zcith  man. 
He  that  being  often  reproved,  hardeneth  his  neck,, 
shall  suddenly  be  cut  off)  and  that  without  remedy . 
Because  I  have  called,  and  ye  refused ;  I  have 
stretched  out  my  hand,  and  no  man  regarded  j  but 
ye  have  set  at  nought  all  my  counsel,  andzvould 
none  of  my  reproof:  I  also  will  laugh  at  your  ca- 
lamity j  I  wi\l  mock  when  your  fear  cometh  ;  when 
y  our  fear  cometh  as  desolation,  and  your  destruc- 
tion cometh  as  a  ivhirlwind ;  zohen  distress  and  an- 
guish cometh  upon  you. — Then  shall  they  call  upon 
vie,  but  I  zvill  not  answer  ;  they  shall  seek  me  early, 
but  they  shall  not  find  me :  For  that  they  haled 
knowledge  and  did  not  chuse  the  fear  of  the  Lord : 
They  zvoidd  none  of  my  counsel  j  they  despised  all 


19 

r>:y  reproof  Therefore  shall  they  eat  the  fruit  of 
their  ozvn  ivays,  and  be  filed  with  their  own  de- 
vices* 

From  these  passages  of  the  sacred  volume,  you 
will  observe,  that  the  evils  to  be  apprehended 
from  unsanctified  afflictions,  are  of  two  kinds  ; 
cither  being  visited  with  more  overwhelming  judg- 
ments j  or,  being  given  up  to  judicial  hardness. 
Of  the  first  of  these  I  shall  afterwards  speak. 
With  respect  to  the  second,  however  little  it  may 
be  dreaded  by  the  infidel  and  the  formalist,  it  will 
appear  no  inconsiderable  thing  to  the  serious  be- 
liever in  God's  word.  Or  rather,  to  speak  more 
properly,  it  will  appear  to  such  an  one,  the  great- 
est and  most  dreadful  of  all  judicial  dispensations. 
Spiritual  judgments,  though  less  observed,  and 
usually  less  alarming  in  their  aspect,  than  those 
which  strike  at  our  mortal  existence,  and  our  tem- 
poral interests,  ought  undoubtedly  to  be  viewed 
by  reasonable  beings  as  a  thousand  fold  more  just 
objects  of  terror  than  they.  Deplorable^  indeed, 
is  the  condition  of  that  people  to  whom  God  says 
— JVhy  should  ye  be  stricken  any  more  f  Ye  xcill  re- 
volt more  and  more.  They  are  joined  to  idols  ;  let 
them  alone  I  Such  a  people  may  exult,  and  bless 
themselves  in  their  abundant  wealth.  They  may 
be  the  envy  of  their  neighbours,  and  may  con- 
strue the  forbearance  of  God  into  smiles  of  love. 

*  Prov.  i.  21— 52. 


20 

_ 
They  may  be  safe  from  foreign  invasion  and  from 

predatory  violence.  Their  cities  may  not  be  burnt 
with  fire,  nor  wasted  with  disease.  Their  fields 
may  not  be  blasted  with  mildew,  nor  their  preci- 
ous fruits  destroyed  by  the  locust  or  the  caterpillar. 
Their  commerce,  agriculture,  and  manufactures 
may  flourish  •>  and  many  a  short-sighted  beholder 
may  pronounce  them  blessed.  But  their  prospe- 
rity rests  upon  a  deceitful  basis.  Above,  the  tem- 
pest is  gathering  unseen.  Beneath,  the  volcano 
is  accumulating  its  dreadful  materials,  and  hasten- 
ing to  the  exploding  hour.  And  in  an  unexpect- 
ed moment,  when  they  are  saying  peace  and  safety 
to  themselves,  sudden  desolation  shall  overtake 
them — a  desolation  the  more  aggravated  in  propor- 
tion to  its  delay.  Do  you  ask  for  an  example  ? 
Look  at  the  history  of  the  Jews-.  Being  found, 
after  many  chastisements,  altogether  incorrigible, 
God  gave  them  up  to  their  own  hearts'  lusts,  and  left 
them  to  walk  in  their  own  counsels,  until  they  had 
filled  up  the  measure  of  their  iniquities,  and  wrath 
came  upon  them  to  the  uttermost.  Then  their  nati- 
onal sovereignty  was  taken  away  ;  their  capital  was 
destroyed  •>  and  they  were  scattered  abroad,  bear- 
ing in  every  place,  the  stamp  of  divine  displeasure, 
being  made  an  hissing,  and  a  byc-wo?'d  among  all 
nations. 

How  much  reason  have  we  to  tremble,  then, 
lest  our  deliverance  should  be  sent  in  wrath  5  lest 


iLl 

-what  we  celebrate  as  a  blessing,  may- be  convert- 
ed by  human  folly  into  a  curse  ;  lest,  with  respect 
to  many,  their  songs  of  joy,  should  prove  the 
chauntings  of  devoted  victims,  on  the  altar  of 
their  own  destruction ! 

o.  While  we  come  before  God  with  joy  and 
praise,  for  the  merciful  deliverance,  which  we 
this  day  commemorate,  it  becomes  us  to  tremble 
lest  we  should  be  again  visited  by  a  similar,  or  a 
more  dreadful  calamity.  You  have  heard,  that 
when  the  judgments  which  God  executeth  are  not 
sanctified,  it  he  do  not  immediately  cast  oft  the 
subjects  of  his  chastisement,  they  may  expect  far- 
ther and  heavier  strokes  of  his  rod.  They  may 
expect  one  visitation  after  another,  each  in  suc- 
cession more  dreadful,  until  the  great  end  of  humb- 
ling and  reforming  them  be  obtained. 

Brethren,  let  not  self-flattery  hide  from  your  eyes 
the  danger  which  lies  before  you.  Indulge  not 
the  sanguine  hope,  that,  because  the  tremendous 
scourge  has  again  passed  over,  you  will  be  secure 
from  its  ravages  in  future.  It  is  my  fervent  wish 
and  prayer  that  this  may  prove  to  be  the  case  ;  "but 
this  enlightened  audience  will  excuse  me  tor  ex- 
pressing doubts  and  fears,  that  such  complete  ex- 
emption can  hardly  be  expected.  Wheresoever  the 
carcass  is,  there  zeill  the  eagles  be gatheredtogcther* 

*  Matt,  xx iv.  2S. 


0<-7 


Where,  so  many  natural  and  moral  causes  of  pub- 
lic calamity  exist,  it  would  be  almost  a  miracle 
were  we  to  escape  the  judgments  of  God.  While 
our  city  and  land  groan  under  so  much  depravity 
and  corruption,  we  have  too  much  reason  to  fear, 
that  they  will  also  be  made  to  groan  under  encreas- 
ing,  and  more  destructive  testimonies  of  the  divine 
displeasure. 

I  say  not  this,  my  beloved  hearers,  to  discou- 
rage, or  unduly  to  alarm  you  j  but  to  encrease 
your  solicitude,  and  to  animate  your  diligence  in 
using  the  means  of  prevention,  which  Providence 
"has  put  into  your  hands.  With  respect  to  one  class 
of  these  preventives,  I  mean  those  of  a  natural  or 
physicalk'md,  it  would  be  foreign  from  my  duty, 
at  present,  to  enter  into  details,  or  to  offer  opi- 
nions, farther  than  to  express  a  firm  belief,  that 
such  may  be  found  ;  that  there  is  much  in  this  re- 
spect, humanly  speaking,  in  our  power  j  and  that  it 
would  be  criminal  negligence  to  pass  them  by. 
But  with  regard  to  another  class  of  preventives,  I 
mean  those  of  a  moral  or  spiritual  kind,  it  would 
be  injustice  both  to  you,  and  to  my  subject,  to 
pass  them  over  in  silence.  Bear  with  me,  then, 
my  brethren,  while  I  express  a  persuasion,  pain- 
ful indeed,  to  utter,  but  which  a  regard  to  truth 
extorts  from  me — '1  *tat  God  has  a  controversy 
with  us,  and  that  reformation  is  the  only  mean  of 
escaping  -  his  consuming  wrath.     While  so  much 


23 


corruption,  blasphemy,  and  wickedness  triumph 
in  the  midst  of  us,  and  insult  his  holiness,  to  hope 
for  his  smiles,  is  to  contradict  every  declaration  of 
his  word.  While  this  continues  to  be  our  charac- 
ter, we  may  expect  scourges  and  judgments,  as 
certainly  as  we  expect  the  return  of  summer  and 
winter,  seed-time  and  harvest.  Infinite  wisdom  on- 
ly can  tell  whether  pestilence,  or  famine,  or  war  will 
be  the  instrument  of  his  wrath  ;  or  at  how  long  or 
short  intervals,  these  judicial  dispensations  may  oc- 
cur ;  but  of  this,  every  page  of  scripture  warrants 
us  in  being  confident,  that,  on  the  one  hand,  were 
we  an  holy  people,  we  should  seldom  or  never 
hear  of  such  destroying  calamities  ;  but  that,  on 
the  other  hand,  if  our  guilt  and  corruption,  as  a 
people  go  on  and  accumulate,  we  may  anticipate 
the  time  when  these  will  be  more  frequent,  exten- 
sive, and  dreadful  than  they  have  ever  yet  been. 
In  support  of  what  is  here  advanced,  the  sacred 
volume  furnishes  abundant  proof  and  example. 
Overwhelming  judgments  were  denounced  by  Je- 
hovah against  Nineveh,  for  its  great  and  crying- 
wickedness.  And  the  people  of  Nineveh  believed 
God,  and  proclaimed  a  fast,  and  put  on  sackcloth, 
from  the  greatest  even  to  the  least ;  and  they  crkd 
mightily  unto  him,  and  turned  every  one  from  the- 
evil  of  his  zcay,  and  from  the  violence  that  tm 
their  hands — saying — Who  can  tell  if  God  will  turn 
and  repent,  and  turn  azvayfrom  his  fierce  anger  that 
xve  perish  not  ?   And  God  saw  their  xcorhsy  i'iiai  they 


2£ 


firmed  from,  their  evil  zcay  ;  and  God  repented  of 
the  evil  that  he  had  said  he  would  do  unto  them,  arid 
he  did  it  ?wl*  So  much  for  a  favorable  issue,  in  the 
case  of  a  penitent  people.  But  turn  for  a  moment 
to  a  signal  and  melancholy  instance  of  an  oppo- 
site kind.  Jerusalem  was  highly  favored  of  God. f 
His  smiles  upon  her  were  peculiar  and  long.  His 
warnings,  when  she  went  astray,  were  nume- 
rous. His  paternal  chastisements  and  affectionate 
calls,  to  bring  her  to  a  sense  of  duty,  were  conti- 
nued from  year  to  year,  and  from  age  to  age. 
When  lighter  judgments  were  found  ineffectual, 
greater  and  heavier  were  laid  upon  her,  in  awful 
succession  ;  until,  at  length,  proving  incorrigibly 
obstinate,  she  was  rejected  ;  her  glory  finally  de- 
parted ;  and  she  was  delivered  up  to  a  ruin,  which 
tor  accumulated  horrors,  has  scarcely  a  parallel  iri 
the  history  of  man. 

Let  none  say,  that  placing  moral  reformation 
among  the  principal  preventives  of  future  calami- 
ties similar  to  that  which  we  have  lately  sustained, 
is  discarding  .the  agency  of  second  causes.  I 
would  by  no   means   be  understood  to  do   this. 

*   Jonah  iii.  5.  ad  fin. 

f  It  will  readily  occur  to  the  reader,  that  although  this 
people  were  adduced  to  illustrate  a  former  branch  of  the 
subject,  their  case  may,  with  equal  propriety,  be  again  men- 
tioned here,  in  a  somewhat  different  light. 


<2S 


God,  no  doubt,  in  general,  acts,  both  in  the  na- 
tural and  moral  world,  through  the   instrumenta- 
lity of  means.     But  is  it  inconsistent  with  this  ac- 
knowledgment to  believe,  that  lie  disposes  natural 
means  in  such  a  manner  as  to  accomplish  moral 
purposes  ?  Is  it  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  He 
who  created  the   universe  ;  who  continually  pre- 
serves it;    and  who  guides   all   its   complicated 
movements,  foresaw  every   occurrence,  adjusted 
every  instrument,  and  interwove  with  his  plan, 
from   the   beginning,  every  event  in  the  natural 
work;,    which  He  designed  to  use,    either  to  re- 
ward the   righteous,  or  to  punish  the  wieked  ? 
Cor-.lt   the   scriptures.     When   war,  pestilence, 
arul  famine  visited  the  guilty  nations  of  old,  were 
the\  not  brought  about  by  natural  means,  as  well 
as-at  the  present  day  ?    Are  we  not,  at  the  same 
time,    assured,    that  they   were    instruments    of 
God's  wrath,  which  He  used  or  withheld  accord-  ( 
ing  to  the  character  of  those  with  whom  He  was 
dealing  ?  And  is  He  not  the  same  yesterday,  to- 
day,   and   forever  ?    If,  then,  my   brethren,  you 
would  altogether  escape,  or  would  be  visited  with 
lighter  strokes  of  the  rod' of  affliction,  let  peni- 
tence and   reformation  go  hand  in  hand  with  all 
our  exertions  to  apply  natural  preventives,  and  na- 
tural remedies.      Without  the  one,  the  other  can 
be  of  little  avail.     Nay,  I  will  go  farther,  without 
the  one,  we  have  no  right  to  ask  for  the  success 

O 


26 

of  the  other.  For  it  is  the  solemn  declaration  of 
heaven — The  Lord  will  be  ivil/i  you,  ivhi/e  ye  be 
with  him  ;  but  if  ye  forsake  him,  He  will  forsake 
you.  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise 
perish  ! 

3.  Again,  we  are  called  upon  this  day  to  min- 
gle trembling  with  our  joy,  from  a  view  of  the 
general  situation  and  prospects  of  the  world.  It 
seems  to  have  been  with  particular  reference  to 
this  point  that  the  words  of  our  text  were  originally 
delivered.  It  is  at  the  period  when  God  will  dash 
the  nations  in  pieces,  like  a  potter's  vessel,  that  we 
are  especially  exhorted  to  rejoice  xcith  trembling. 

If  I  am  not  deceived,  the  Spirit  of  prophecy  in- 
forms us,  that  the  days  in  which  we  live  are  the 
last  days  ;  the  days  in  which  perilous  times  are  to 
come,  the  days  in  which  convulsions,  disorders,  and 
wickedness  are  to  prevail  and  triumph  more  than 
ever  ;  the  days  in  which  infidelity,  moral  corrup- 
tion, national  troubles,  and  various  temporal  judg- 
ments, are  to  waste  the  inhabitants  of  the  world, 
and  prepare  the  way  for  another  generation  better 
fitted  to  answer  the  divine  purposes.  If,  with 
these  intimations  of  prophecy  in  our  hands,  we 
look  on  the  present  aspect  of  human  affairs,  I  ap- 
prehend we  shall  need  little  argumentation  to  con- 
vince us,  that  the  scriptures  are  at  this  moment, 
most  awfully  fulfilling.    Such  a  general  derange- 


27 

ment  in  the  political  and  moral  world,  has  not,  pro- 
bably, existed  since  the  antediluvian  scenes  of  de- 
pravity.      And,    if  we   believe   the   predictions 
throughout,    the    corruption  and   the  calamities 
which  we  now  deplore  are  but  the  beginning  of  sor- 
rows.   Wars,  it  is  probable,  before  the  Millenni- 
um commence,  will  be  more  general  and  sangui- 
nary ;  atheism  and  irreligion  more  bold  in   their 
professions,  and  more  unhinging  in  their  influence  j 
the  whole  aspect  of  human  society  more  deranged 
and  turbid  ;  and  earthquakes,  famine,  and  pesti- 
lence  more   frequent  and   destructive,  than   the 
world  has  hitherto  scon,- 

I  am  well  aware,  that  the  friends  of  a  certain 
vain   philosophy,  falsely  so  called,  will  tell  me, 
that  these  gloomy  forebodings  are  superstitious  and 
visionary.     They  will  tell  me  that  an  age  of  great 
moral   improvement  is    commenced,  and  rapidly 
progressing  toward  a  glorious  consummation  ;  an 
age  in  which  reason  without  God,  and  philosophy 
without  the  Gospel,  shall  purify,  tranquilize,  and 
perfect  human   society.       But  alas  !  where  is  the 
proof  of  this  boasted  theory  ?  I  ask  them  whence 
these   happy   effects  are  to    originate,  and  what 
powerful  agency  is  to  produce  them  ?  but  I  listen 
in  vain  for  a  satisfactory  answer.      I  look  abroad, 
to  find  the  precious  fruits  of  which  they  speak ; 
but  I  see  only   an  ocean  every  where  perturbed, 
and  covered  with  mist  and  gloom.      I  enquire  toil 


28 

the  harmonizing  influence,  and  the  transforming 
benevolence  which  they  promise  to  exhibit  \  but 
the  passing  gale  wafts  to  my  ear  little  else  than  the 
noise  of  war,  the  collision  of  vindictive  passions, 
and  the  groans  of  misery  and  death.  I  listen 
again,  with  redoubled  attention,  for  the  voice  of 
blessedness,  and  the  sounds  of  paradise,  which 
they  assure  me  are  approaching  ;  but  I  hear  only 
the  wind  and  the  storm  fulfilling  the  pleasure  of 
the  Almighty. 

In  contemplating  this  portentous  state  of  things, 
there  would  be  ground  for  terror  and  despair  only, 
were  we  not  assured  that  Jehovah  tides,  in  the 
tchirlwhid,  and  directs  the  storm — that  He  will 
bring  good  out  of  evil,  order  out  of  confusion,  light 
out  of  darkness,  and  a  kingdom  of  the  greatest 
glory  and  blessedness  out  of  materials  which  are 
totally  depraved.  It  is  only  a  confidence  in  the 
divine  government  which  will  warrant  us  to  re- 
joice in  the  anticipation  of  such  scenes.  But, 
even  with  this  confidence,  who  can  realize  the  ap- 
proach of  such  terrible  things  in  righteousness, 
without  trembling  before  the  God  of  all  the  earth  ? 
In  this  mighty  conflict,  who  that  loves  his  fellow- 
men,  and  is  concerned  for  human  happiness,  can 
avoid  mingling  with  his  ascriptions  of  praise,  the 
tears  of  compassion  for  infatuated  mortals,  and  the 
humble  awe  with  which  these  dispensations  of 
heaven  are  calculated  to  fill  the  mind  ?   Who  shall 


29 


vol  fear  thee,  O  Lord,  and  g  lor  if  1/  thy  name,  xoheii 
th\j  judgments  are  made  manifest? 

Having  introduced  so  many  practical  remarks, 
in  stating  and  illustrating  what  appeared  to  be  the 
doctrine  deducible  from  the  text,  on  the  present 
occasion,  I  shall  add  but  little  by  way  of  improve- 
ment. 

I  cannot,  however,  dismiss  the  subject,  without 
seriously  asking,  each  individual  in  this  audience, 
how  they  have  profited  by  the  solemn  dispensa- 
tion of  Providence  which  they  have  lately  passed 
through  ?  Brethren,  have  you  been  led  by  this  af- 
fliction to  consider  your  ways  \  or  has  it  lett    you 
more  hardened  ?    Have  you  been  brought  by  it  to 
repentance,  love,  and  new  obedience  5    or  has   it 
made  you  more  secure,  careless,  and  deaf  to  the 
voice  of  heaven  ?  Have  you  come  out  of  the  fur- 
nace purified  and  refined  j  or  more  full  of  dross 
and  corruption  than   before  ?    Did   none  of  you 
make  vows  and  resolutions  in  the  day  of  adversity? 
And  are  these  vows  remembered  and  fulfilled,  or 
disregarded  and  forgotten  ?  Have  you  turned  from 
your  evil  way,  and  put  away   the   accursed  thing 
from  the  midst  of  you  j  or  is  all  that  guilt  which 
drew  down  the  judgments  of  God,  still  resting  in 
its  dreadful  weight  upon  you  ?    My  hearers,  these 
are   not  vain  questions,  they   are  even  your  hie. 
Let  me  entreat  you  to  answer  them  without  par- 


30 

tlality  and  without  evasion  ;  for  they  will  be  spee- 
dily asked  before  a  tribunal  where  all  things  will 
be  naked  and  open  before  the  eyes  of  Him  with 
whom  zee  have  to  do. 

When  I  look  round  this  populous  city,  which 
was,  a  few  weeks  since,  clothed  in  mourning,  and 
contemplate  the  criminal  dissipation,  and  the  va- 
rious forms  of  wickedness,  which  have  so  soon 
taken  the  place  of  those  gloomy  scenes,  I  am  con- 
strained, with  anxious  dread,  to  ask — Shall  not 
God  be  avenged  on  such  a  people  as  this  ?  Shall  he 
not  send  greater  judgments,  and  yet  greater,  in  an 
awful  succession,  until  we  either  be  made  to  hear 
his  voice,  or  be  utterly  consumed  before  him  ?  Do 
not  hastily  imagine,  from  this  strain  of  address, 
that  because  we  have  been  lately  afflicted,  it 
would  be  my  wish  to  see  every  innocent  amuse- 
ment discarded,  and  the  gloom  and  sadness  of  the 
pestilential  season,  still  remaining  upon  every 
face.  By  no  means.  To  lighten  the  cares,  and 
to  dispel  the  sorrows  of  life,  indulging  in  occasional 
and  innocent  amusements  is  at  once  our  privilege 
and  our  duty.  But  do  we  see  no  other  than  inno- 
cent amusements  prevailing  around  us  ?  Are  the 
lewdness,  the  blasphemy,  the  gaming,  the  unprin- 
cipled speculation,  the  contempt  of  christian  duties, 
and  the  violation  of  the  christian  sabbath,  so  mourn- 
fully prevalent  in  our  city  and  land — are  these  in- 
nocent ?  Then  wero  the  cities  of  Sodom  and  Go- 


31 

morrah  innocent.    Then  are  the  impious  orgies  of 
infernal  spirits  harmless  in  the  sight  of  God. 

Upon  each  of  us,  then,  as  individuals,  there  Is 
a  task  incumbent — the  task  of  personal  reforma- 
tion and  personal  holiness.  If  it  be  true  that  one 
sinner  destroy  eth  much  good ;  it  is  equally  true, 
that  the  fervent  prayer,  and  the  exemplary  virtue 
of  a  righteous  man  avail  much.  Remember  that 
if  there  had  been  ten  righteous  persons  in  Sodom, 
God  would  have  spared  the  city  for  their  sake. 
On  the  same  principle,  be  assured,  that  every 
righteous  person  in  a  community  adds  to  its  secu- 
rity, and  renders  it  less  probable  that  Jehovah 
will  visit  it  with  consuming  judgments.  Let 
those  who  are  strangers  to  religion,  therefore,  be 
entreated,  if  they  regard  their  own  welfare  or  that 
of  their  countiy,  to  return  to  God  with  penitence 
and  love  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  zvalk  before 
him  in  neivness  of  life.  Sinners !  every  hour  that 
you  continue  impenitent,  you  not  only  endanger 
your  own  souls,  but  you  add  to  the  guilt  of  the 
community  of  which  you  are  members.  Awake 
from  your  fatal  dream  !  Behold,  now  is  the  accept- 
ed time  i  behold  nozv  is  the  day  of  salvation  !  To- 
day, if  ye  zcill  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your 
hearts.  And  let  the  people  of  God  be  persuaded, 
in  these  solemn  times,  to  grow  more  watchful, 
diligent  and  holy.  Christians !  You  are  the  salt  of 
the  earth.     The  importance  of  your  example,  and 


32 

of  your  prayers  is  beyond  calculation.  If  there  be 
any  who  have  an  interest  at  the  throne  of  grace, 
and  who  are  encouraged  to  repair  to  it  with  an 
humble  boldness,  it  is  you.  If  there  be  any  who 
are  under  special  obligations  to  rouse  from  their 
lethargy,  and  to  profit  by  the  late  awful  dispensa- 
tion, it  is  you.  Let  the  present  season,  then, 
form  a  new  acra  in  your  spiritual  life.  Be  sober 
and  watch  unto  prayer.  Sigh  and  mourn  for  all 
the  abominations  that  are  done  in  /he  land.  For 
Zio??'s  sake  do  not  hold  your  peace,  and  for  Jerusa- 
lem s  sahe  do  not  be  quiet,  until  the  righteousness 
thereof  go  forth,  as  brightness,  and  the.  salvation 
thereof  as  a  lamp  that  burnetii. 

Finally,  my  brethren,  we  are  exhorted  by  all 
that  we  hear  and  see — by  the  word,  and  by  the 
providence  of  God,  to  raise  cur  views  above  the 
grovelling  pursuits  of  time  and  sense  ;  to  live  as 
candidates  for  immortality  ;  and  to  seek  an  inter- 
est in  Him  who  is  the  Way,  and  the  Truth,  and  the 
Life.  What  is  human  life  but  a  vapour,  which  con- 
tinuethfor  a  little Ji  me,  and  then  vanisheth  away  ? 
Its  labours  are  unsatisfying  toils  ;  its  contentions 
are  the  jarrings  of  children  ;  its  hopes  are  the  vi- 
sions of  delirium  ;  its  enjoyments  are  vanity  and 
vexation  of  spirit.  We  are  sojourners  in  a  strange 
land,  who  tarry  but  for  a  night.  We  wander  up 
and  down  in  a  place  of  graves ;  we  read  the  epi- 
taphs  on  the   tombs   of  the  deceased  ;  we  drop 


33 

a  few  tears  over  their  precious  remains  ;  and  in  a 
little  while  our  friends  will  be  invited  to  perform 
the  same  kind  office  to  us,  and  to  deposit  us  in 
the  house  appointed  for  all  living. — Lord  !  teach 
us  so  to  number  our  days,  as  to  apply  our  hearts 
unto  zuisdom.  Help  us  to  grow  wiser  and  better 
by  all  thy  dealings.  And  prepare  us  for  that  hap- 
py world,  where  there  shall  be  no  more  sickness, 
neither  sorrozv,  nor  crying  ,•  where  we  shall  love 
and  serve  thee  without  the  imperfections  which 
cleave  to  our  depraved  natures  here  j  and  where 
we  shall  rejoice  zvith  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory  !  through  riches  of  free  grace  in  Christ  Jesus, 
to  whom  with  the  Father,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  be 
glory  forever. 

A  M  E  N  ! 


E 


NOTES 


-I.  AGE  12. — Some  He  saved 'by providing  a  place  of  refuge,  &c. 
It  is  supposed  that,  at  least  half  the  inhabitants  of  the  City 
left  it.  The  generous  hospitality  of  our  country  neighbours, 
in  receiving  many  of  the  fugitives  ;  and  their  signal  libera- 
lity, in  contributing  to  the  support  of  the  poor  who  remain- 
ed, have  already  met  with  many  acknowledgments.  Too 
many  they  can  hardly  receive. 

It  is  pleasing  to  find,  that  the  scruples  which  were  former- 
ly prevalent  and  strong,  against  flying  from  pestilence,  are 
now  entertained  by  few.  There  seems  to  be  no  good  rea- 
son why  tho^e  who  consider  it  sinful  to  retire  from  a  place 
under  this  calamity,  should  not  have  the  same  objection  to 
flying  from  famine,  from  the  ravages  of  fire,  or  from  war, 
which  are  equally  judgments  of  God.  And  yet  those  who 
reprobate  the  former,  never  think  of  condemning  the  latter. 
In  fact,  if  it  be  criminal  to  retire  from  a  city  in  which  the 
plague  rages,  it  must  be  equally  criminal  to  send  for  a  Phy- 
sician, or  to  take  medicines  in  any  sickness  ;  for  they  are 
both  using  means  to  avert  danger  to  which  the  Providence 
of  God  has  exposed  us.*  It  is  hoped,  therefore,  if  Pro- 
vidence should  call  us  to  sustain  a  similar  stroke  of  affliction 
in  future,  there  will  be  a  more  general  agreement  than 
.ever,  in  the  propriety  of  immediate  removal ;  and  that  all 
will  escape  without  delay,  who  are  not  bound  to  the  scene 
of  danger,  by  special  and  indispensible  ties.  Had  all  the 
inhabitants  of  New-York  remained  in  the  city,  during  the 
late  epidemic,  probably  four  or  five  times  the  present  num- 

■ 
*  Se-  Jeremiah  21.6—9. 


I)  J 

her,  on  the  lowest  computation,  would  have  been  added 
to  the  list  of  its  victims.  As  every  diseased  individual  or 
family  adds  force  to  the  malignity  of  the  atmosphere,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  most  benevolent  principles  conspire  with  the 
selfish,  in  prescribing  immediate  and  general  flight. 

PAGE  12. — While  others  ivere  preserved,  though  waliytg. in 
the  midst  of  the.  devouring  poisa,  to  discharge  the  duties  of  benevolence 
and  humanity,  &c.  In  mentioning  this  description  of  our  citi- 
zens, it  would  be  an  act  of  injustice  to  omit  the  tribute  of 
grateful  acknowledgment  to  the  gentlemen  composing  tin? 
Corporation  of  the  City  ;  to  the  Committee  of 
Health  ;  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Health •• 
Office;  and  to  a  large  number  of  the  Physicians. 
Their  firmness  in  remaining  at  their  posts,  after  the  most 
alarming  testimony  had  been  received  of  the  danger  to 
which  they  were  exposed  ;  their  disinterested  zeal,  in  dis- 
charging the  arduous  duties  committed  to  them  ;  and  their 
distinguished  humanity  and  benevolence  in  seeking  object* 
of  distress,  in  entering  the  cells  of  poverty,  and  relieving 
the  wants  of  the  most  obscure — it  is  presumed  will  be  long 
and  gratefully  remembered  by  their  fellow-citizen*.  -While 
the  christian  blesses  God  that  He  moved  them  to  this  noble 
display  of  virtue,  and  supported  them  in  it  ;  he  will  also 
highly  honor  them  as  the  instruments  of  saving  .many  lives 
and  of  extensive  public  utility.  To  such  of  the  Physicians 
as  remained  in  the  city,  until  compelled  to  leave  it,  by  a 
debility  and  indisposition,  incapacitating  them  for  farther 
exertions,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  that  the  whole 
of  the   above  acknowledgment    is    also   due.     To  such  of 

them  as  fell  sacrifices  to  their  benevolence but  alas !  the 

praise   of  man   avails    them  not.      May   their  memories  be 

long  embalmed  In  the  hearts  of  a  grateful  people  ! 

• 
PAGE   II. — JJ7/en  few  passengers  were  .s*  en  >  saw  tut  leant; 
of,  &c.     To  those  who,  with  the  author,  witnessed  through 
out  the  melancholy  scenes  which  are  here  described,  this 
part  of  the  description,  at  least  as  it  respects  a  large  pur- 


30 


tion  of  the  city,  will  appear  the  unexaggerated,  literal 
truth.  The  more  shocking  scenes,  which  the  apartment* 
of  the  sick  presented,  he  cannot  attempt  to  paint.  Even  to 
the  present  hour,  he  recollects  much  of  what  past  before 
his  eves  v\ ith  shuddering  horror. 

PAGE  1 1 . —  O  Death  !  hezv  large  the  catalogue  of  thy  trophies  ! 
&V.  The  deaths  from  August  1st.  to  November  10th. 
1798,  amounted  to  more  than  two  thousand.  Among 
these  were  some  of  the  most  distinguished  ornaments  of  re- 
ligion, humanity,  and  science,  which  our  city  afforded. 
The  following  list  of  interments,  in  each  of  the  burying 
grounds  in  the  city,  within  tiic  abovementioned  period, 
may,  perhaps,  not  improperly,  be  here  recorded. 


Trinity  Church 

St.  Paul's    do. 

St.   Peter's  do. 

Christ's     do. 

United  Presbyterian  Churches 

Dutch  Reformed  do. 

German  Lutheran  do. 

Friend's  do. 

Moravian  do. 

Methodist  do. 

Eaptist  do. 

Scotch  Presbyterian       do. 

Associate  Presbyterian  do. 

German  Calvinists  do. 

French  Protestants  do. 

Jews 

Negroes 

Potter's  Field 

L'ellevue 


214 

211 
86 
23 
186 
129 
76 
42 


Total 


2082 


FINIS. 


